زَرَعنا فَلَمّا سَلَّمَ اللَهُ زَرعَنا

زَرَعنا فَلَمّا سَلَّمَ اللَهُ زَرعَنا

وَأَوفى عَلَيهِ مِنجَلٌ بِحَصادِ

وَأَوفى عَلَيهِ مِنجَلٌ بِحَصادِ

We sowed, and when God kept our crop safe,

We planted, and when God allowed our planting to be complete

and a sickle stood poised over it for harvest,

And a floodwater carried off more of it than locusts and pestilence,

بُلينا بِكوفِيٍّ حَليفِ مَجاعَةٍ

بُلينا بِكوفِيٍّ حَليفِ مَجاعَةٍ

أَضَرَّ عَلَينا مِن وَبا وَجَرادِ

أَضَرَّ عَلَينا مِن وَبا وَجَرادِ

we were afflicted with a Kufan, famine’s ally,

We were afflicted by a starving beggar of Kufa,

more harmful to us than plague and locusts.

Who did us more harm than locusts and floods,

أَتى مُستَعِدّاً ما يُكَذِّبُ دونَهُ

أَتى مُستَعِدّاً ما يُكَذِّبُ دونَهُ

وَلَجَّ بِإِرغامٍ لَهُ وَبِعادِ

وَلَجَّ بِإِرغامٍ لَهُ وَبِعادِ

He came prepared, never faltering before it,

He came fully prepared, with none to gainsay him,

and persisted despite humiliation and rejection:

And settled in by compulsion, imposing himself on us.

فَطوراً بِإِلحاحٍ عَلَيَّ وَغِلظَةٍ

فَطوراً بِإِلحاحٍ عَلَيَّ وَغِلظَةٍ

وَطَوراً بِخَبطٍ دائِمٍ وَفَسادِ

وَطَوراً بِخَبطٍ دائِمٍ وَفَسادِ

sometimes with insistent demands on me and harshness,

At times importunate and rude, at times constantly erratic and corrupt,

and sometimes with ceaseless battering and havoc.

And were it not for Abu al-Abbas - I mean Ibn Hamid -

وَلَولا أَبو العَبّاسِ أَعني اِبنَ حامِدٍ

وَلَولا أَبو العَبّاسِ أَعني اِبنَ حامِدٍ

لَرَحَّلتُهُ عَن تَسَتُّرٍ بِسَوادِ

لَرَحَّلتُهُ عَن تَسَتُّرٍ بِسَوادِ

And were it not for Abu al-Abbas—I mean Ibn Hamid—

I would have evicted him from his unauthorized dwelling amid the shadows.

I would surely have driven him from the cover of blackness.

So refrain from harming your neighbor, and learn

فَكُفّوا الأَذى عَن جارِكُم وَتَعَلَّموا

فَكُفّوا الأَذى عَن جارِكُم وَتَعَلَّموا

بِأَنّي لَكُم في العالَمينَ مُنادي

بِأَنّي لَكُم في العالَمينَ مُنادي

So keep harm away from your neighbor, and learn

That I am for you in the two worlds a warner.

that I am your herald among all mankind.